The Carlyle Group's first-quarter distribution to investors was the largest in the history of the private equity giant.

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle told investors in an April 15 letter that it had distributed more than $6.4 billion to investors. The firm said its private equity holdings had increased in value by 10% in the first quarter and are up 46% over the past year, Bloomberg News reports.

By contrast, Carlyle distributed just $7.5 billion to investors all of last year.

In addition to announcing the record-setting distribution, Carlyle told investors it had committed or invested $4.5 billion in a dozen deals during the quarter.

"Now is an opportune time to put capital to work," Carlyle founders William Conway, Daniel D'Aniello and David Rubenstein wrote.

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We reached out to TipRanks to get a list of their top analysts in the energy sector along with their top current picks. TipRanks does not separate out energy from the broader sector of Basic Materials, so these analysts come from the Basic Materials sector with a focus on energy. Because the energy sector, along with the broader market, suffered a correction at the beginning of February, many of their selections offer a better point than first selected.